Bump A.J. Pierzynski up in your Catcher rankings

[The Knickerbocker 9]

From Nate Ravitz of the Sporting News on "Ballpark Effects":

A.J. Pierzynski San Francisco Giants

" Despite the homerdome nickname, the Metrodome in Minnesota is actually a difficult park for left-handed hitters to go yard in. It has a HR index of 90 for left-handed batters. But it might as well be your backyard compared to SBC Park, which has a 64 index in that category. Both parks tend to suppress the batting average of lefties. Pierzynski hit .328 on the road last season, so there is actually reason to believe he might be able to maintain his usual .300 neighborhood batting average. However, any power surge he would otherwise be expected to show at the age of 28 is likely to be negated by his new home park."

AJ's .328 road average last season came in the small hitter friendly parks of the american league. Couple this with the fact that the national league pitching will be tougher on him this season and i for one forsee a moderate DECREASE in production from him this season no matter where he bats. Becarefull with him this season, he could be one of those "bite you in the ass" picks on draft day...

[Oat Soda]

Agreed. When AJ ends up hitting .320 this year the rest of you can blast me all you want, but I refuse to touch him until late, if then.